this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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[–] Blake@feddit.uk 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (18 children)

Clearly everyone should just let China do whatever they want to avoid war, if we appease them by expanding their territorial claims and avoiding conflict then surely everything will be fine. The politics of appeasement has historically been very successful.

Edit: Stop replying please, I don’t want to waste any more time arguing with y’all.

[–] CascadeOfLight@hexbear.net 38 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also "appeasement" is a made up post-hoc explanation for the western Allies' actions before WW2, blaming the supposed naivete or lack of spine of the leaders for simply allowing the Nazis to make expansionist moves uncontested, rather than it being an intentional policy to get out of their way and try to direct them eastwards against the Soviet Union.

[–] ElChapoDeChapo@hexbear.net 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Good comment, this lie also works with the thought terminating cliche of bumbling accidental empires in a damn near synergistically perfect way

[–] judgeholden@hexbear.net 32 points 1 year ago (22 children)

westerners are really the most propagandized people in the world

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[–] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

The 21st century indo-pacific is not a comparable issue to 20th century Central Europe. Also appeasement wasn't even the complete disaster casual observers like to make it out to be (who still won the war after all?) but that's beside the point here. Taiwan is not some defenseless independent country being threatened by the reincarnation of Hitler calling for world domination. It's a part of China that broke away in an ideological civil war that China wants back. Even the US state department acknowledges this fact, yet they still believe it is very important that they protect one part of China from another part of China and extend their civil war which should have ended for good decades ago. This is not an act of peace or charity, this is creating a conflict situation, with Taiwan right in the center of any potential explosion.

See, the US doesn't care about these concerns is because the real reason America is in Taiwan is so they can use it as a strategic base for operations to oppose and weaken the PRC, a "West Berlin of Asia" so to say. And somehow, liberals and social democratic opportunists have deluded themselves into believing that stationing the most powerful naval fleet in history (US 7th Fleet) to permanently do 'freedom of navigation exercises' (armed provocations) in Chinese coastal waters is the "moderate" solution to this conflict. And I suppose we'll just have to keep the navy there forever right? Or until the PRC finally collapses? (I'm still waiting lol)

I say we should cut a deal with the PRC, let them have Loser Island in exchange for mediating other border disputes with their neighbors. A majority of Taiwanese citizens want more integration with China, and they're still their largest trading partner. While immediate annexation wouldn't be popular, a gradual process of integration would be best for the entire region. It would allow the two biggest military powers to step down their aggressive actions against each other, end the period of Taiwanese citizens being used as a geopolitical pawn, and provide a solid diplomatic framework to settle future disputes in the region (as this would be a massive rapprochement in Sino-American relations) This wouldn't even weaken American national security (which is what everyone hates about 'appeasement') since it's, you know, an occupied imperialist outpost on the other side of the world's largest ocean, not even in America's hemisphere.

Of course this option would be totally unacceptable for the American imperialist apparatus, they would never be willing to lose such an important base in the Pacific (just ignore that they would still have Japan, Guam, Philippines, etc). So what's going to happen instead is that the US is eventually going to get distracted and entangled in some other imperialist mess, because they can't recognize their empire is hopelessly overextended, and China will just take Taiwan when they think the balance of power is in their favor. This would be the worse thing to happen: a chaotic breakdown of the region instead of a negotiated reordering. There will be decades of bitterness and calls for mass violence. Maybe it will also escalate and some ships get sunk and the nukes fly and oh well its World War 3. Beware those who call diplomacy 'appeasement' in the post-atomic age, they seek your death.

[–] blazera@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

I say we should cut a deal with the PRC, let them have Loser Island

shock, gasp, Hexbear user thinks Taiwan should surrender to China.

[–] Blake@feddit.uk 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How can you consider yourself anti-imperialist when you’re talking about unilaterally giving entire countries to other countries?

[–] Doubledee@hexbear.net 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Is the Donbas a separate country because it declared independence from Ukraine?

EDIT: Which is actually more than Taiwan has done, the government in exile on Taiwan considers itself the rightful government of the entirety of mainland China and parts of Mongolia.

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[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Taiwan isn't a country. They don't consider themselves independent, China doesn't consider them independent, the U.S. doesn't consider them independent.

How can you consider yourself anti-imperialiat when you don't know the basic facts of the situation?

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[–] SexMachineStalin@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Have you considered the possibility that people living in Fuzhou, Putian, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou (among many millions of others along the coast) don't want to have American nukes pointed at them a mere 200-300 kilometers away?

Also neither China, the US, the :international-community-1::international-community-2: or the rest of the world do not recognize Taiwan as independent. Only the :nato-cool: despite this, want to wrest Taiwan away to build a puppet state.

Oh yeah and the official acronymn is "CPC".

[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 28 points 1 year ago

just let China do whatever they want

No one is saying this, but go off.

[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

feddit.uk

lmao is this literally a lemmy instance for British feds? this has to be some reverse psychology from the Ml5

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[–] Sasuke@hexbear.net 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)

The politics of appeasement has historically been very successful.

the one singular lesson liberals were able to tease out from all their history classes on ww2

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[–] TomHardy@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (17 children)

These are the territorial claims of the government on Taiwan, from a state the US and much of the Western world support or at least de facto like to defend in Asia. They never made any remarks regarding Taiwan's claims with 18 other countries. If the US supports peace in the Asia Pacific (besides looking at a map and asking why the US has even a say about Asia in the first place), then surely Mainland China must be supported, as by protecting & legitimizing Taiwan's constitution, you're approving this shit in Asia.

But let me guess, neoliberal countries get a pass from the crackerverse?

[–] Blake@feddit.uk 23 points 1 year ago (24 children)

Holy shit, you’re telling me that both sides in a civil war think they should have full control of the country they’re in a civil war over? Hang on I need to sit fucking down my head is spinning

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (12 children)

Civil war is when two sides of a nonviolent conflict peacefully negotiate reintegration.

Better send weapons to Taiwan!

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[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 59 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (24 children)

China creates conflict with all its neighbours and tries to steal their territorial waters.

China threatens the existence of an independent Taiwan.

China commits literal genocide against Uyghurs

And it’s the US starting shit this time? Give me a fucking break imperialist sympathisers.

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[–] blazera@kbin.social 30 points 1 year ago (30 children)

Taiwan is a sovereign nation

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[–] ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I didn't know Truthout was a CCP propaganda outlet. Glad to know.

[–] PZK@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If the source isn't negative about China, or doesn't cast them as the villain in every scenario, it must be propaganda.

But naturally, the opposite is never propaganda.

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